Method of making sliding clasp fasteners



Dec. 13;, 1949 E. ENGEL METHOD OF MAKING SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS 2 sheets-s eet 1 Filed Oct. 1, 194a @ec. 13, R949 E. ENGEL.

METHOD OF MAKING SLIDING CLASP FASTENERS 2 SheetsSheet 2 Filed Oct. 1, 1946 Patented Dec. 13,1949"- FASTENERS METHOD OF MAKING SLIDING CLASP Erich Engel, Tontcg, near Pontypridd, England,

assignor to Aero Zipp Fasteners don, England, a British company Application October 1, 1946,

Limited, Lon- Scrial No. 700,581

In Great Britain March 8, 1945 4 Claims. (Cl. 29-148) The present invention relates to sliding clasp fasteners. Interlocking members for such fasteners usually comprise each a head carrying the coupling means and two legs for attaching the members to a tape or other flexible carrier. In the manufacture of such interlocking members it is known to punch or otherwise cut and sever completely the members from a strip of material in such a manner that the head of one member is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent member. In this manner the amount of waste material is greatly reduced as compared with other methods of making such members. However, this method and 1 other known methods have the disadvantage that the loose members have to be attached singly to the carrier which operation involves comparatively complicated means for attaching the loose members with the required pitch to the carrier. One of the objects of this invention is to avoid this drawback. It is another object of the present invention to facilitate electrolytical treatment of members made of metal, for example anodising of members made of aluminium.

Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of the invention when read with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 illustrates a strip from which a plurality of interlocking members have been formed;

Fig. 2 illustrates the strip of Fig. 1 after the members have been turned through angles of 90;

Fig. 3 illustrates the strip attached to a tape;

Fig. 4 illustrates a strip the members of which have been turned through angles of less than 90; and

Fig. 5 illustrates a strip the members of which are interconnected at one side only.

In all the figures, the same parts are indicated by the same reference numerals. I

According to the present invention, the inter locking members for a sliding clasp fastener are punched or otherwise cut from a strip of material so that the head of one member is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent member, but so that the legs of the members remain connected to the remainder of the strip, and the members are then similarly bent out of the plane of the strip at one side thereof to produce a row of members carried by the remainder of the strip. Preferably, the interconnected members bent out of the plane of the strip are spaced so that the pitch between adjacent mem- 2 bers corresponds to the required pitch of the members on a carrier for the member, whereby it is possible subsequently to attach the row of members bodily to the carrier, the connections between the members being subsequently removed.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, and 3, a plurality of interlocking members I are formed from a blank strip 2, which is somewhat broader than the width of the members I. The coupling means 3 are pressed into the central portion of the strip 2 at equal distances from one another along the strip. Subsequently, or simultaneously, the strip 2 is out (see Fig. 1) at equal distances along the lines a so that the cutting lines 4 correspond to the contour of the members I with their legs 8 spread apart, the members being arranged along the strip so that the legs 8 of each member diverge at either side of the central line of the strip 2 and the head 9 of one member is nested between the legs of an adjacent member, the tips of the legs 8 remaining, however, connected to the marginal portions 5 and 6 of the strip 2. The members are then bent out of the plane of the strip 2 at one side thereof through angles of as shown in Fig. 2. The row of upstanding interlocking members shown in Fig. 2 is bodily attached to a carrier tape I and clamped thereon in straddling position as shown in Fig. 3, the connection between the members being subsequently removed. If the coupling means 3 of each member I are pressed or otherwise formed singly and/or if the contour of each member I is cut singly, according to a feature of the invention, the feed of the strip 2 to the singly acting forming and/or cutting tool equals the required pitch between adjacent members. If a plurality of coupling means 3 are pressed or otherwise formed simultaneously and/or-if the contours of a plurality of members I ar cut simultaneously by a multiple forming and/or cutting tool, the feed of the strip 2 equals a corresponding multiple of the pitch between adjacent members.

According to a modification of the invention (illustrated in Fig. 4) the members I II are turned through angles diifering from 90, whereby the upstanding members I0 assume a somewhat inclined position relatively to the, plane of the strip, the marginal portions of which are indicated by reference numeral II, the members III assuming a correspondingly inclined position on the carrier, if the row of interconnected members is bodily attached to the carrier. I have found that the seating of the members on the carrier is improved when the members are attached thereto in such an inclined position.

According to another modification, shown in i may be so spaced that they have a pitch equal to a multiple of the pitch of the members on the carrier. In this case, a corresponding plurality of rows may be bodily attached to the carrier,

the members or one row being staggered relatively to those of the other row orrows, so that the members are arranged on the carrier with the required pitch. For example, adjacent members. of one row may have a pitch equalling twice the desired pitch and their legs may be interconnected only at one side of the members (as shown in Fig. 5), while the members of another row have the same pitch, but their legs are connected The invention is not limited to metal members. The members may be made or non-metallic material, for example, of thermo-plastlc material, and the bending operations required may be performed under heat and pressure.. The interconnected row of plastic members may be attached to the carrier in any convenient manner, for example by gluing, and the connection between adjacent members subsequently removed.

'More than-gone row of upstanding interconnected members may be formed from a single strip, the rows being, for example, arranged side by side ona strip of suitable width.-

It should be clearly understood that the accompanying drawings are given by way of example only. Many modifications, additions and omissions which will readily occur to those skilled in the art may be made without departing from the spirit of the invention.

I claim: 1. A method of making interlocking members for a sliding clasp fastener comprising the steps at the other side of the members when the rows are viewed in alignment with each other and corresponding coupling means (for example, the

coupling projections of the members of both strips) are turned in the same direction. The

rows are subsequently attached to the carrier with the connections of one row at one side of the carrier and the connections of the other row at the other side of the carrier, the members of one row being interposed half way between ad- ,iacent members of the other row.

It will be appreciated that it is not necessary the row and the carrier displaced relatively to the remainder of the row so that subsequently the next member, while still'connected to the row, may be attached to the carrier with the desired pitch relatively to the first member of the car- .rier. In this case, the pitch of the interconnected upstanding members may be difierent from the final pitch which the members assume on the tape.

A particular advantage of the invention resides in the fact that if the members are made of metal, they may be treated electrolytically before the connections between the members are removed, the connections serving as an electric conductor connecting the members electrically. For example, if the members are made of aluminium or aluminium alloy, they may be anodised by I electrolytical treatment and subsequently suitably dyed. If it is intended to sever the members after they have been electrolytically treated butprior to their'attachment to the carrier, it is suflicient to bend them only slightly out of the plane of the strip. for example, to turn them out of such plane through angles of about 10. This is suiiicient for ensuring that the electrolytical treatment and, if desired, subsequent dyeing oi the lateral surfaces of the members (i.e., the surfaces i5 0! 4) is not impeded by the connecting portions (indicated by reference numeral H in Fig. 4)

oi the strip.

in cutting the contour of the members in longitudinal alignment into a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip sothat the head of one member is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent member but so that the legs of the members remain connected to the remainder of the strip, and subsequently separably displacing the cut portion 01 the members out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof into parallelism normal to the remainder of the strip to produce a row of spaced members carried at their legs by the remainder of the strip.

2, A method of making interlocking members for a sliding clasp fastener comprising the steps of forming the coupling means of a first set of a plurality of members in longitudinal alignment in a strip of material intermediate the edges oi! the strip, cutting the contours of said members into said strip, displacing said strip in its longiby material between the legs or an adjacent memher but so that the legs of the members remain connected to the remainder-of the strip, and subsequently separably displacing the cut portion of the members out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof into parallelism normal to the remainder of the strip to produce a row of spaced members carried at their legs by the remainder of the strip.

3. A method of making interlocking members for a sliding clasp fastener comprising the steps of cutting the contour of themembers in longitudinal alignment into a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip so that the head of one member is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent member but so that the legs of the members remain connected to the remainder of the strip, and subsequently separably displacing the cut portion of the members out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof through angles 'of 90 into spaced parallelism to 4. A method of making interlocking members for a sliding clasp fastener comprising the steps of cutting the contour of the members in longitudinal alignment into a strip of material intermediate the edges of the strip so that the head of one member is formed by the material between the legs of an adjacent member but so that the legs of the members remain connected to the remainder of the strip by the legs at one side of the members only, while the legs at the other side of the members are free, and subsequently separably displacing the cut portion of the members out of the plane of the strip at one face thereof into parallelism normal to the remainder of the strip to produce a row of spaced members carried by the remainder of the strip.

ERICK ENGEL.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

6 UNITED sums PATENTS Number Number 20 8,308 653.037

Name Date Johnson Oct. 15, 1929 Cox Dec. 4, 1934 Quisling Feb. 18, 1936 Quisling Aug. 18, 1936 Winterhalter Feb. 23, 1937 Witte June 4, 1940 Quisling Nov. 12, 1940 Rendleman Apr. 22, 1941 Puschner et a1 May 20, 1941 Puschner et al Aug. 12, 1941 Miller Mar. 10, 1942 Ulrich Nov. 1'7, 1942 Beckwith et a1 Mar. 7, 1944 Ulrich Feb. 27, 1945 FOREIGN PATENTS I Country Date Australia Nov. 17, 1932 France Oct. 3, 1928 

